1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus that performs a recording operation on a sheet by using a recording head.
2. Description of the Related Art
A recording apparatus that performs a recording operation on a sheet by using a recording head is widely used as an output apparatus of a processing system or an information processing apparatus. As sheet conveying mechanisms in recording apparatuses, structures for simultaneously performing recording operations on two sheets are discussed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 9-109491 and 2004-195840. In each of these related sheet conveying mechanisms, two sheets that are placed at positions that are parallel to each other are conveyed at the same time, and recording operations are simultaneously performed on the two sheets at a recording portion. Then, the sheets that are parallel to each other are ejected at the same time. By such a structure, it is possible to reduce recording time by increasing recording speed when performing recording operations on sheets having various sizes.
However, the above-described related examples have a problem in that a user must set the sheets at two positions that are parallel to each other. Setting the sheets at two separate positions may cause the sheets to be improperly or unsuccessfully set. In the related examples, if the sheets that are placed at the two positions are not equally divided, the user cannot tell which of the two positions runs out of sheets first. Therefore, absence or presence of sheets must be detected at both positions, thereby complicating controlling operations. Consequently, costs are increased. In addition, in the related examples, the recorded sheets are ejected in parallel. Therefore, when many sheets are continuously recorded, the order of pages must be corrected after ejecting the sheets. As a result, the processing operations become troublesome compared to those in an ordinary recording operation.